Valve.



PATENTED APR. 19, 1904'.

E. P. ALLEN.

VALVE.

APPLIUATIONIILED 811m. 3, 1901.

N0 MODEL.

THE mums vuzns co PHDTO-LITHQ. WASHINGTON. o. c.

UNITED STATES Patented April 19, 1904:.

PATENT OFFICE.

VALVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 757,873, dated April19, 1904. Application filed September 8,1901. Serial No. 74.181. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known. that I, EVERETT P. ALLEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented acertain new and useful Improvement in Valves; and I declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specification.

My invention has for its object the production of a valve for use moreparticularly in connection with a radiator and forming an airventtherefor. Heretofore, so far as I am aware, most of the devices of thisclass have been designed in such a manner that the ventports would beopen while the air was escaping, but as soon as steam began to passthrough the valve the heat thereof would, through a suitablethermostatic device or by means of some expansible medium, operate toclose the valve, and thus shut off the vent. It is the object of myinvention to produce a device in which no eXpansible medium whatever isemployed to operate the valve, but the latter is operated entirely onthe float principle and solely by the change of volume of the liquidwhich floats the valve; and to this end the invention consists generallyin a suitable float carrying a valve and so arranged within the casingthat when the latter contains a certain amount of water, either fromwater remaining in the radiator or throughthe condensation of steampassing through the-valve-casing, the float will be raised and willcarry the valve to its seat, thus shutting off the passage of the fluidthrough the vent-orifice, and when the 'volume of water within thecasing falls below a certain volume the float will be lowered and willcarry with it the valve away from its seat.

Combined with my float-valve as just described I have also added avacuum checkvalve to prevent the air from entering through theexhaustport, and thus destroying any vacuum that may be in the radiatoror system.

This check-valve may be either automatically or positively operated, ashereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of my valve, showing theports open and the valve in position to allow the air to escape from theradiator or system to which it is attached; Fig. 2, a vertical sectionshowing the ports closed; Fig. 3, a variation in which the vacuumcheck-valve instead of being automatic is positively operated, and Fig.4 a sectional view of the float.

In carrying out the invention, A represents a suitable casing providedwith any suitable form of nipple a (preferably threaded) for engagementwith the radiator or other part of the system to which itis attached,said nipple forming the inlet-port a. The main casing is provided with asuitable head A, in which is screwed or otherwise engaged a suitableplug B, the latter bored, as at b, to form an outlet-port and providedwith two valve-seats b 6 It will be observed that the inlet-port a isabove the lower end of the casing, so that a fluid-accumulating chamberis provided below the inlet.

C is a cap suitably engaged to the casing by screw-threads or otherwiseand having a ventorifice C extending therethizough. On the bottom of thecasing is a suitable closure-cap D, engaged to the casing byscrew-threads or otherwise, preferably having a depression d to receivethe guide-stem of the float, as will hereinafter be described.

E is the float, preferably made of thin metal and hollow. This float issealedz. a, airtightso that when surrounded with a suitable amount ofliquid it will float and be raised by the liquid. On the upper end ofthe float is-a valve E, adapted to seat against the seat 6 and on thelower end of the float is a stem E adapted to enter the depression d,the lower end of the float being thus held in place, while the upper endis held in place by the flange 5 which surrounds the seat 5 F is a valvehaving its lower end formed conical to fit the seat 6, being held inplace by the flange b, which surrounds the seat 6.

through the inlet (0 passes the valve E through the outlet-port b,raises the valve F, and passes off through the vent-orifice 0.

shown in Fig. 1, and the float E is so constructed that with the waterat this height the float will be in its lower position with the valve Eopen. 'As soon as steam commences to flow through the casing there willbe more or less condensation, and the water dropping down within thefluid or accumulating chamber at the bottom of the casing raises thelevel of the water to the height shown in Fig. 2. The float E is sobalanced that when the water reaches this point it raises the float, andthis carries the valve E against the seat 6 and shuts off further flowthrough the casing so long as the steam remains in the radiator. Whenthe steam is shut off from the radiator and condenses therein, thevacuum formed by the condensation lowers the water in the fluid-chamberof the casing A until it is at a sufliciently low'level to permit thefloat to drop back to its lower position and open the'valve. It is thusevident that the operation of the valve de pends solely upon the changeof volume of the liquid in the fluid or accumulating chamber.

It will be remembered that the valve F has been'raised from its seat bythe passage of air through the port 6, and, of course, as soon as thefloat is operated by the condensed steam to shut ofl the flow of fluidthrough the port I) the valve F will drop to its seat, and when thefloat E again opens the valve E the valve F will remain on its seat andwill prevent any air entering through the outlet-port C and destroyingthe Vacuum in the radiator.

It will be observed that I have above described the water in the casingas being normally at the height shown in Fig. 1 and have stated that thecreation of the vacuum in the radiator lowers the level of the water tothis point. r

I do not, of course, desire to be understood as limiting myself to theexact level at which the water must rest in order to allow thefloat todrop nor the exact level to which it must be raised in order to raisethe float; but I have found from practice that the construction shown inmy drawings and above described accomplishes the result and that thereis nonecessity in a construction such as I have shown and described forany expansion or thermostatic member whatever.

In Fig. 3 I have shown the check-valve H The water .in. the casing Awould be normally at the height connected with a screw-stem H, passingthrough a screw-threaded opening in the cap C, so that the check-valvecan be positively operated rather than automatically. In this case theoutlet for the air is arranged at H This construction of the device isprincipally applicable to hot-water systems where if the float-valveshould at any time be disarranged or become inoperative, so that the hotwater would leak through the outlet-port, the valve can be screwed downto its seat, and thus shut off the outlet until the difliculty can beremedied.

It will be observed that the upper end of the float E is made convex orrounding. While I do not care to limit myself to this specific form, yetI prefer it, because the air-pressure in passing through the casing willtend to hold the'float down until such time as it is operated upon bythe waterin'the casing.

What I claim is 1. In avalve, the combination with a casing, aninlet-port above the bottom of the same whereby a fluid-accumulatingchamber is provided, an outlet-port from the chamber above the level ofthe inlet-port, avalve controlling said outlet-port, and a float adaptedto close said valve, said float adapted to be operated solely by thechange of volume of the liquid in said chamber, substantially asdescribed.

2. In an air-vent valve for a radiator systerm, the combination with acasing provided with a nipple for engagement to the radiator or system,said nipple forming an inlet-port for the valve and located above thebottom of the casing whereby a fluid-accumulating cham ber is provided,an outlet-port from the chamber above the level of the inlet-port, avalve controlling said outlet-port, and a float adapted to close saidvalve, said float adapted to be operated solely by the change of volumeof the liquid in said chamber, substantially as described. a

3. In avalve, the combination with acasing, an inlet-port above thebottom of the same whereby a fluid-accumulating chamber is provided, anoutlet-port from the chamber above the levelof the inlet-port, a'valvecontrolling said outlet-port, a float adapted to operate said valve,said float adapted to be operated solely by the change of volume of theliquid in said chamber, and a check-valve also controlling saidoutlet-port and adapted to prevent the entry of air into the casingthrough the outlet-port, substantially as described.

4:. In avalve, the combination'with a casing, an inlet-port above thebottom of the same whereby a fluid-accumulating chamber is provided, anoutlet-port from the chamber above the level of the inlet-port,'a valvecontrolling said outlet-port, a float adapted to operate said valve,said float adapted to be operated solely by the change of volume of theliquid let-port, a float adapted to operate said valve, I

said float adapted to be operated solely by the change of volume of theliquid in said chamber, and\another valve controlling the final end ofsaid outlet-port, said latter valve acting as a check-valve to preventthe return of air into the casing, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of twoWitnesses.

EVERETT P. ALLEN. Witnesses:

R. M. WILBUR, CLARA C. CUNNINGHAM.

